Third place Wigan welcome Widnes in Super League

Wigan host Widnes having beaten Super League leaders Leeds Rhinos last time out, are heavily odds-on at 1/12 with Coral to follow up with another win.

The two teams played out a 22-22 draw in the first game of the new campaign in February, so the visitors will be equally confident, especially since the 29-22 win over Catalans Dragons last time. The competition’s top scorer, Joe Burgess took four points against the Vikings earlier in the year and is 11/2 to cross first, while Anthony Gelling, who also scored, is odds-on at 4/7 anytime.

Following his side’s terrific win over Leeds, which saw scrum half Matty Smith kick a last minute penalty, coach Shaun Wane said: “I thought we deserved to win,” Wane said. “We bombed two dead-set tries in the second half with poor skill but overall I’m happy with the win.

“It’s been a real tough week and it was nice to get a win against the best team in the competition. Credit to them, when they go into offload mode, they’re a fantastic team. They’re the best team in the competition but we were much improved.”

Vikings coach Betts is well known and respected by Wigan and their fans, having won multiple trophies for the Wigan during the 1990s.

However, there will be no love lost as he returns to the club he shared many happy memories with, though knows his team face a tough task.

“We’re not giving up the fight yet,” said Betts. “We need to show some determination and maybe get a little bit of luck at the weekend.

“But we still believe that can happen and we got some confidence from our win over Catalans on Sunday,” he continued. “It’s a huge challenge that we’ve talked about. But we’ve got a win we needed and we’ve got a bit of belief in us, so you never know.”